Title 28.2, Title 28.2. Fisheries and Habitat of the Tidal Waters

It is unlawful to take or catch clams in Pocomoke Sound above a line drawn from Drum Bay Point, in the County of Accomack, and running a north-northwest course to the line between the States of Maryland and Virginia, except upon such grounds in those waters as may be set aside by…

It is unlawful for any person to harvest or ship clams smaller in size than the legal size established by the Commission. Any person who violates this section is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

All licensed oyster harvesters, buyers, shucking houses, and aquaculture operations shall record all fisheries data and information required by the Commission as provided in § 28.2-204. Such records shall be open for inspection by the Commissioner and a copy available to him or a…

A. There are imposed upon all oysters taken from the public rocks, beds, or shoals the following oyster resource user fees, per year: (i) on any licensed commercial fisherman harvesting oysters by hand, a fee of $50; (ii) on the use of any type of gear to harvest oysters, a fee o…

A. All oyster resource user fees collected by the Commission and any gifts, donations, grants, bequests, and other funds received in support of oyster recycling and replenishment and all funds appropriated for such purpose shall be deposited in the state treasury and credited to …

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to carry, attempt to carry, or buy for the purpose of carrying out of the Commonwealth any seed oysters taken from the public rocks, beds, or shoals until he has first obtained for each cargo a permit to do so from the Commission. B. The per…

Any officer is authorized to inspect as to the quality, size and measure of any of the oysters taken or purchased, loaded on any boat, vessel, motor vehicle, or other conveyance, or sold to any person.

It shall be the duty of the officer in whose district a cargo of oysters is to be loaded to inspect the oysters as they are loaded and to ensure that all measurements are a full measure of oysters as defined in § 28.2-526 and that the oysters are properly culled.

Any person who violates any provision of this article is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Any person willfully failing to pay oyster resource user fees to the Commission in the manner required by this article is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The Commission may maintain an acti…

A. The Commissioner, with the approval of the Commission, may contract with any person to take or dredge submerged oyster shells or any other subaqueous materials from the tidal waters of the Commonwealth, and shall have the authority to plant, use, or sell such shells or other m…

The surveys of the natural oyster beds, rocks, and shoals of the Commonwealth, made pursuant to Chapter 511 of the 1892 Acts of Assembly, shall continue to be the surveys defining and determining the natural oyster beds, rocks, and shoals of the Commonwealth. The surveys and repo…

When private leaseholds granted by the Commission or its predecessors appear within the Baylor Survey continuing pursuant to § 28.2-551 or as reestablished pursuant to § 28.2-553, if it shall be established to the satisfaction of the Commission, by petition duly filed prior to Ja…

The Commission may select and appoint any surveyor to survey or resurvey any oyster-planting grounds either in his own or any other county, and to reestablish and permanently mark any line or lines of the Baylor survey of natural oyster rocks which the Commission finds necessary …

The Commission may reestablish, relocate, and remark all lines of the Baylor survey which cannot be otherwise relocated because of the loss or destruction of previous marks. In reestablishing any such lines, the line surveyed by Fred E. Ruediger shall be followed wherever such li…

The Commissioner shall have available to sell at five dollars per copy to the public copies of the Baylor survey charts and plats, in such manner as the Commissioner may determine.

The Department of Transportation may maintain, repair, reconstruct, or replace any existing crossings of the Baylor survey. Such authorization is granted for any Baylor survey crossing determined by the Commonwealth Transportation Board to be necessary across the Hampton Roads fr…

The public oyster beds, rocks, and shoals shall not include any area needed for an erosion control structure if the Commission, after considering the comments of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and the Department of Conservation and Recreation, and any other relevant evi…

It is unlawful for any person to threaten, resist, or in any manner interfere with a surveyor in the performance of duties relating to oyster grounds. The surveyor shall have the right to enter upon any person's lands in the performance of his duties. A violation of this section …

Whenever the Commission makes or directs any surveys of Virginia's public oyster rocks, prominent and permanent concrete markers shall be placed on the shores fixing the survey stations; and, whenever possible, prominent and permanent range markers shall be placed on the shores o…

When, by any resurvey of oyster-planting ground or survey reestablishing the lines of the Baylor survey made under the direction of the Commission, it appears that any holder, by mistake of any employee of the Commission, has had assigned to him and included in the plat of his as…

Any person other than the holder of an oyster-planting ground or his agents or employees who goes upon such ground and takes oysters and shells is guilty of larceny.

It is unlawful for any person to intentionally or knowingly injure, remove, or displace any boundary oyster stake, range monument, signal beacon, post or buoy, or any part thereof, erected to designate, locate, survey, or map any shellfish grounds. A violation of this section is …

All maps of the bays, rivers, and creeks of this Commonwealth made by the Commission showing the location of oyster-planting grounds shall be filed in the office of the Commission. Any such map and the areas of the individual assignments of platted oyster-planting grounds shall b…

A. Any owner of land bordering on a body of water in the oyster-growing area of the Commonwealth whose shore front measures at least 205 feet at the low-water mark, who has not had as much as one-half acre of ground already assigned him on the front, or whose lease has terminated…

The riparian leaseholder shall have the exclusive right to the use of such ground for planting or gathering oysters and clams. The assignment made pursuant to § 28.2-600 shall pass with the transfer of the adjacent highland to the subsequent owner of highland and cannot be held s…

The provisions of this article apply to all Virginia counties and cities bordering on bodies of water in oyster-growing areas, except they shall not apply to riparian lands located above the James River bridge in the James River or its tributaries. In any Virginia county or city …

Waterfront that is not already assigned or reserved for the riparian owners, and the beds of the bays, rivers, and creeks and shores of the sea lying outside the limits of navigation projects adopted and authorized by the Congress and not required for the disposal of materials dr…

The Commission shall, pursuant to its authority to regulate marine fisheries and commercial fishing, establish a general permit regulation authorizing the use of temporary protective enclosures to grow shellfish on grounds leased pursuant to § 28.2-603. In developing the general …

A. At least 30 days before placing temporary protective enclosures on a leasehold pursuant to § 28.2-603.1, the leaseholder shall provide written notification to the Commissioner that identifies the leasehold, the approximate maximum number of enclosures to be placed on the lease…

Application for assignment of general oyster-planting ground may be made by (i) any resident of the Commonwealth, (ii) any county, municipality, or political subdivision of the Commonwealth, or (iii) any firm, or corporation chartered under the laws of this Commonwealth for the p…

All applications for assignment of general oyster-planting grounds shall be made in writing, in duplicate, to the Commission. Applications shall be considered in the same order in which they are received, except that no application for any ground then under lease shall be valid f…

A. Notice of the application shall be posted by the Commission for not less than 30 days on its website and the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall website. The Commission shall provide by registered or certified mail written notice of its receipt of the application to (i) the mailing …

If a protest is not filed in the Commission office within 60 days after posting of the notice of application, the Commissioner shall select a surveyor to survey the grounds and make a plat in duplicate. The surveyor shall forward the plat of survey to the Commissioner. If no prot…

Any applicant for general oyster-planting ground or for riparian oyster ground shall pay (i) an application fee of $300 if the application is for less than five acres, $500 if the application is for five to 25 acres, and $1,000 if the application is for more than 25 acres; and (i…

No assignment, except in the Chesapeake Bay, shall exceed 250 acres. An applicant, after having 250 acres of general oyster-planting ground assigned to him, shall not apply for another assignment of oyster grounds within six months from the day his assignment was recorded and com…

No person shall own or operate more than 3,000 acres of general oyster-planting grounds in the waters of this Commonwealth other than in the Chesapeake Bay. If ground in excess of 3,000 acres is acquired, the person has a right to lawfully hold the ground for one year and shall h…

Application for general planting ground in the Chesapeake Bay in waters from fifteen feet deep or more shall be made to the Commissioner. The Commissioner shall have the right to accept or reject any application. No more than 5,000 acres may be assigned to any applicant. The assi…

The applicant shall pay to the Commission annual rent of $1.50 per acre or any fraction thereof, except as provided for the Chesapeake Bay and for bathing ground. Such payment shall be due on September 1 of each year after the date of assignment, plus a ten percent penalty if not…

Each assignment of general oyster-planting ground shall continue in force for 10 years from the date of assignment, unless the assignment is terminated. The interest in such ground is chattel real. Upon the death of the renter, testate as to the lease, it shall vest in the named …

If the Commissioner determines that in any past assignment of or in any attempt to transfer oyster ground, a survey, or a recorded plat, does not accurately describe the metes and bounds of the leased ground, the Commissioner shall require the lessee, the transferor, or both to h…

The cost of the surveys and recording fees required by § 28.2-614 shall be borne by the lessee or transferor and the cost and fees shall be the same as for surveys made by the Commission.

Any person in possession of any general oyster-planting ground which has not been assigned according to law shall have no preference as to having it assigned to him. The ground shall be open to the first applicant.

The plat and assignment, as soon as practicable after completion, and after the ground has been assigned to the applicant, shall be filed for record in the office of the Commission.

A. The Commonwealth shall guarantee to any person who has complied with ground assignment requirements the absolute right to continue to use and occupy the ground for the term of the lease, including the right to propagate shellfish by whatever legal means necessary. B. The right…

When the Commission finds that a lessee is dead or unknown, and no one claims such property as an heir or assignee, the ground shall become vacant and open to assignment.

Any ground or area which becomes delinquent shall be open and available to be leased, after the following conditions have been met: 1. The Commissioner has notified the person in writing on or about September 1 of that year of the amount of rent due; 2. If the rent becomes delinq…